This July, the 2020 Summer Olympics are heading to Tokyo.

Millions of athletes, fans, and tourists are planning to come to Tokyo from nearly every country in the world to participate in the games and celebrate culture. With such a large amount of people gathering in one place, it’s important to always keep yourself safe and keep yourself healthy.

This year, the world is focusing on the olympics for a different reason: coronavirus. This global epidemic is raising the question: will the Olympics even happen?

If the answer remains yes, it will be important for everyone traveling to Tokyo to be prepared and safe.

[Read more…]

According to the CDC, the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine is a safe and very effective vaccination that protects against diseases when it’s given at the proper ages.

HPV is the most common sexually transmitted disease. According to the CDC, 79 million Americans are infected with HPV, most of which are in their late teens and early twenties.

There are over 100 strains of HPV and each can cause other health complications. While the low-risk strains can cause genital warts, high-risk HPV can lead to cancer.

[Read more…]

Two recent studies reveal new insight into cerebral malaria, a severe and deadly form of malaria that mainly targets children.

Malaria, a mosquito-borne disease, causes over 200 million cases every year. Still lacking an official vaccine, the virus is one of the most dangerous in the world. According to the National Institute of Health (NIH), a group of those who are infected with develop cerebral malaria.

Largely happening to young children, the malaria parasite gets into blood vessels within the brain. The virus can then cause the brain to swell, causing pressure and damage to the brain.

[Read more…]

Researchers of the HVTN 702 study in South Africa, which began in 2016 to create a HIV vaccine, announced earlier this year that they have stopped administering vaccinations in clinical trials.

The promising HIV vaccine wasn’t showing negative side effects or safety issues in the clinical trials. The vaccine failed because it wasn’t proving to be effective against HIV.

“An HIV vaccine is essential to end the global pandemic, and we hoped this vaccine candidate would work. Regrettably, it does not,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, infectious disease chief of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

[Read more…]

The flu may be prominent for months an end, but there are many steps to avoid the virus.

The first prevention method is the flu shot, designed with that flu season in mind. Other methods include washing your hands often and avoiding close contact with those infected. Covering coughs and sneezes also helps control spreading and contracting the flu.

Another tool that many people use is wearing face masks that cover their noses and mouths. More importantly, those infected with the flu can use face masks to help prevent the spread of the virus to those who are healthy.

[Read more…]